I want to win a
week in one of your Tuscany villas! A chance to be in
Tuscany in a beautiful villa where I can shop and eat all of the delicious food
that Tuscany has to offer? This recipe is entered in a competition to win a week in a Tuscan Villa!! A dream come true! For today’s meal, I am sharing
with you a Grilled Steak with Balsamic Madeira Reduction with Baked Ricotta
Parmigiana Mouse over Grilled Eggplant and Tomato Sorbet. I first had a steak
prepared like this in Florence, the winter of 2011 and boy, would I love to
have it there again! I made a delicious baked cheese mousse to go with the
steak (just because I love cheese), some fresh grilled eggplant (because we
need our veggies!) and a lovely, light Tomato Sorbet, a perfect palate
cleanser. Enjoy!
Tomato
Sorbet
3 large
tomatoes
1 cup of
granulated sugar
Clean and chop
your tomatoes. Add the chopped tomatoes to a medium size container and put in
the freezer for an hour and a half. Take them out, add to a food processor and
mix on high until thoroughly blended. Prepare a medium size pot over medium
heat and slowly pound in the tomato mix. Add the sugar and mix until blended.
Pour the tomato sugar mix back into your container and put in the freezer for
four hours. Serve with a garnish of fresh basil.
Baked
Ricotta Parmigiana Mousse
¾ cup of
ricotta cheese
5 tbsp. grated
parmigiana
1 ½ tbsp. salt
1 ½ tbsp.
pepper
1 ½ tbsp.
crushed red pepper
1 tbsp. garlic
powder
2 tbsp. Italian
seasonings
1 egg
4 small ramekins
2 tbsp. olive
oil
Pre-heat
your oven to 350 degrees. In a medium size bowl, mix the ricotta until smooth.
Add the parmigiana, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, garlic powder, Italian
seasonings. Taste for flavor, if you want to add more seasoning, go ahead! Once
it seasoned to your liking, add the egg and mix until combined. Using the 2 tbsp. of olive oil, oil your
ramekins and fill with the ricotta parmigiana mix. Bake in the oven for 20-30
minutes or until completely set. Take them out and let them cool for 10 minutes
before serving.
Grilled
Eggplant
1 medium size eggplant
4 tbsp. olive
oil
1 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. pepper
1 tbsp. Italian
seasonings
Clean and cut
your eggplant into slices. Prepare a pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil,
salt, pepper and Italian seasonings directly to the pan. Add the eggplant
slices, flip them after 20 minutes or until slightly crispy. Once flipped, cook
for another 15 minutes.
Grilled Steak
with Balsamic Madeira Reduction
1 tbsp. peanut
oil
1 ¼ pound prime
boneless strip steak
2 tbsp. olive
oil
1 tbsp. smoked
salt
1 tbsp. pepper
Prepare a cast
iron skillet over medium heat. Add the peanut oil and allow to heat for around
3-4 minutes. Rub your steak with olive oil, smoked salt and pepper. Add to the
skillet and cook on one side until medium rare, around 6 minutes, flip and
allow to cook for another 6-7 minutes. Turn off the pan and move the steak to a
plate to settle.
Balsamic Madera
Reduction
6 tbsp.
balsamic vinegar
½ cup of Madeira
Add the
balsamic vinegar and Madeira to the cast iron skillet with the remaining liquid
from the meat. Cook over medium heat until slightly thick and syrupy.
Assembling your
plate:
Plate a circle
of eggplant on your plate and place the Ricotta Parmigiana Mousse on top. Add a
few slices of steak to the plate and glaze with some of the Balsamic Madeira
Reduction. In a small cup on the side, scoop out some of the Tomato Sorbet and
add a fresh leaf of basil. Buon Appetito!
